In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
dave wrote:

I had a 4 track(?) reel to reel tape recorder circ 1960's that had a
track selector slider switch. I remember though it had only two
positions. Either T1-2 or T3-4 (or maybe it was T1-3 T2-4. I don't
recall if it was stereo but if not why record 2 tracks at once?

Having rediscovered some tapes from that machine (long since gone),
I'd like to play them and see what secrets they hold! Trouble is I
don't understand what that track selection meant. Was it perhaps that
one could do...

Record Pass 1, selected T1-2
Rewind
Record Pass 2, selected T3-4
Turn tape over and repeat the above, giving 4 complete passes through
the tape?

AFAIK there was no way to record just say, T1

Have tried witha friend old recoder and we are getting two "tracks"
palying at once ie two stes of sounds played simultaneously.

I'm taking a look at what recorders are on ebay and may not get
exactly the machine I had, so need to understand this track business.

I've still got an old Pye 9123 4-track recorder up in the attic, and have
just found the service manual for it.

Mine is mono only, but has a socket into which an optional stereo pre-amp
could be plugged to enable pre-recorded stereo tapes to be played.

The track selector has 3 positions 1/4, 2/3 and PAR. ISTR that 1/4 will
record on or playback from an outer track, and 2/3 from an inner track. PAR
would play back 2 tracks in parallel - mainly for special effects, I think.
ISTR that (probably again with an optional pre-amp) you could monitor one
track while recording on another, so that you could - for example - record a
duet with yourself and then play the whole thing back using the PAR setting.

In normal use, you had 4 independent tracks - 2 each way up - so a 7" tape
would last for a hell of a long time - albeit with some manual intervention.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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Set Square wrote:

In normal use, you had 4 independent tracks - 2 each way up - so a 7" tape
would last for a hell of a long time - albeit with some manual intervention.

If you were willing to go way down on speed, say 15/16" per sec, you'd
probably die before reaching the end of the tape.

NT